It’s been almost a month since Sony announced the end of PlayStation discs for new games starting in 2028, and a loud contingent of angry fans has continued to criticize the company for going all-digital. Asked about the ongoing backlash during its latest earnings call, Sony said it understands why people have strong feelings about physical games, but it’s still going to move forward with getting rid of them.
“There are various reasons we made this decision, the biggest being that the digitalization of content overall has been progressing, that’s the big factor,” Sony chief financial officer Lin Tao said through an interpreter during a Q&A on July 31. “It’s not just for PlayStation, but for all kinds of content, digitalization is progressing.”
She continued:
And so when we think about the future–and we put in a lot of thought and time, and we cautiously considered this–and we came to this conclusion, and we’re going to cautiously move this forward. And to this decision, we have received various opinions and people have strong views, and we understand that the community has put forth those views to us. Games are loved by many people. It’s a form of entertainment that’s loved by people, and it’s connected to people’s fond memories in many cases. And so we understand those emotions. We want to consider that. And in the future digital ecosystem, how do we engage the gamers is something that we would like to continue to explore
Sony responds to the backlash over ending PlayStation discs.
“We put in a lot of thought and time, and we cautiously considered this, and we came to this conclusion, and we’re going to cautiously move this forward…” pic.twitter.com/qRKkEX6TN3
— AmericanTruckSongs9 (@ethangach) July 31, 2026
Some players are trying to put together an initial boycott of PlayStation by way of a week-long blackout in mid-August. “Whether it’s closing beloved studios like Bluepoint, pursuing a misguided live-service strategy, cancelling fan events, leaving PS VRS2 to die, or being completely out of touch with the franchises players want to see return, PlayStation has never felt more disconnected from its community,” physical gaming advocate DoesItPlay’s announced on X this week. “Ending physical discs in 2028 feels like the last straw.”
One investment analyst during today’s briefing pressed Tau on how the end of discs will impact Sony’s relationship with retailers, and how it will continue to differentiate the PS5 and upcoming console hardware from gaming PCs if both are all-digital devices. In response, Tao pointed out that publishers will still be able to ship empty boxes with codes inside to stores in markets like North America and argued that PlayStation hardware will win on affordability.
“About the retailers, there are regional characteristics, and for each regional partner, we try to have a thorough dialogue so that we can end up in a win-win situation,” the CFO said. “We don’t feel that the disc is the factor to differentiate [PlayStation] from the PC. There’s a certain way to play with the PC as a user. It’s a long tail. The curated content is one of our strengths, and the game environment being stable, that’s another strength. And compared to the high-end gaming PC, our product is more affordable. So we don’t feel that the disc itself is a strong factor for differentiation. Going forward, we can coexist peacefully with PC games.”